United Asset Strategies Inc. Trims Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

United Asset Strategies Inc. reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 174,236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 11,407 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 4.0% of United Asset Strategies Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $43,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 240,458 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,215,000 after buying an additional 7,793 shares in the last quarter. waypoint wealth counsel grew its stake in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. waypoint wealth counsel now owns 30,877 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,732,000 after acquiring an additional 1,370 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,251,943 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,816,031,000 after purchasing an additional 1,902,426 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $158,067,000. Finally, Apexium Financial LP boosted its holdings in Apple by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 210,899 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $52,813,000 after purchasing an additional 20,926 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Loop Capital cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.65.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $214.10 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.08 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $232.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.33. The firm has a market cap of $3.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.